Chinese Economics Thread

[Jura The idiot]

now I read
China reports steady growth in fiscal revenue
Xinhua| 2018-04-19 01:15:54

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China posted stable growth in its fiscal revenue in the first quarter of 2018, official data showed, adding to evidence of a solid economy.

The fiscal revenue rose 13.6 percent year on year to 5.05 trillion yuan (more than 800 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March period, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said at a press conference Wednesday.

MOF official Lou Hong attributed the increase mainly to strong tax revenue, as businesses saw better performance amid a solid economy in the first three months. Revenues rose 28 percent in consumption tax, 21.1 percent in commercial value added tax and 14.4 percent in import tax.

Business and individual income taxes went up 11.7 percent and 20.7 percent respectively.

Lou expects fiscal revenue growth will moderate in the coming months but will remain steady.

During the January-March period, fiscal spending rose 10.9 percent year on year to 5.1 trillion yuan.

China has pumped more money into reforms, poverty relief, environmental protection and education to address unbalance in development since the beginning of the year, MOF official Wang Xinxiang said.

Government expenditures gained 76.8 percent on forest protection, 58 percent on poverty relief, 47.5 percent on applied research, 38.3 percent on agriculture, and 13.7 percent on basic pension fund. The central authority will also strengthen fiscal support for less-developed areas to improve people's livelihood, Wang said.

With the economy on a firm footing and fiscal revenue increasing, China lowered its fiscal deficit target to 2.6 percent of GDP for 2018, down by 0.4 percentage points compared with 2017, the first drop since 2013.

MOF data showed ten local governments including Hubei and Xinjiang have issued 219.5 billion yuan of bonds since January.

China will continue to improve bond issuance of local governments and step up prevention and control of debt risks, Lou said.

At the press conference, Lou also said China will continue to vigorously push forward negotiations of the Agreement of Government Procurement and strive for a win-win result as early as possible.

As the world's second largest economy, China's government procurement will provide a huge market to other participants, greatly improve international trade, and inject vitality into global economic recovery, Lou said.

 

[Jura The idiot]

now I read
China positive on foreign trade outlook
Xinhua| 2018-04-19 15:23:52

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China's foreign trade outlook remains positive despite seasonal fluctuations and uncertainty arising from protectionism, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

"The trend of steady development with a positive outlook for the country's foreign trade has not changed," MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told a press conference.

He said the trade deficit recorded last month was mainly due to the Spring Festival, which affected production and exports.

China posted a trade deficit of 29.78 billion yuan (about 4.75 billion U.S. dollars) in March, the first monthly deficit since February 2017.

Growing global demand amid a recovering world economy, as well as China's sound economic fundamentals and supply-side structural reforms, will support foreign trade, Gao said.

The International Monetary Fund earlier this week forecast global economic growth of 3.9 percent this year. Last week, the World Trade Organization predicted global trade to remain strong, with merchandise trade volume expected to expand 4.4 percent in 2018.

However, unilateralist and protectionist actions by some individual countries have brought uncertainty to the global trade, had adverse effect on companies' expectations, and hurt the multilateral trade system, Gao said, adding China will work for sustained, healthy and balanced development of foreign trade.

 

[Jura The idiot]

now noticed the tweet

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China Unicom, China Mobile & China Telecom, China's three major telecom operators have been approved to set up

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

networks in big cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

 

[taxiya]

ZTE Seeks Fix With U.S. Ban Threatening Access to Android

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

executives are evaluating software options for the company’s smartphones after a U.S. technology ban threatened to cut off the operating system at the heart of its devices, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The Android operating system, designed by Google, is the core of ZTE smartphones, powering user-facing functions, apps, and other services. That means the software likely falls under Monday’s

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

denying China’s ZTE access to American technology for seven years. Trading in ZTE shares was suspended in Hong Kong soon after the announcement.

ZTE lawyers have been meeting with Google officials about the issue, according to the person. They asked not to be identified talking about private discussions. Google and ZTE declined to comment.

The U.S.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

stated that ZTE can’t "participate in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, software or technology... exported or to be exported from the United States." That includes licenses, the typical way software is used.

Losing access to Android would be a major blow for ZTE because there are few alternatives. Microsoft Corp. and HP Inc. no longer offer smartphone operating systems, Apple’s iOS is exclusive to its own devices, and ZTE doesn’t have its own operating system. The only possible alternative is Samsung’s Tizen, which hasn’t taken off and only supports a few apps.

For Alphabet Inc.’s Google, losing ZTE as an Android handset maker wouldn’t be critical given the Chinese company’s small market share. However, Google has been losing control of what some Android handset makers put on their devices. Samsung, the largest Android manufacturer, has introduced its own mobile services, such as a voice assistant, that compete with Google services. In response, Google has relied more heavily on Chinese manufacturers like ZTE, Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Corp.

There must be either exaggeration or serious misunderstanding by Bloomberg regarding Android.

Android is an open source project. There is no license which is under the cover of US ban. US government can not ban something that it has no jurisdiction, nor means to enforce the ban.

The only one thing within Android eco-system may be the play store content which is in the software warehouse owned by Google which is under US jurisdiction. Substituting the play store is much more easier. Actually it is already done by ZTE in China, and any venders selling phones in China including Samsung.

The only impact of this ban is ZTE's oversea, mostly US, market.

 

[vincent]

There must be either exaggeration or serious misunderstanding by Bloomberg regarding Android.

Android is an open source project. There is no license which is under the cover of US ban. US government can not ban something that it has no jurisdiction, nor means to enforce the ban.

The only one thing within Android eco-system may be the play store content which is in the software warehouse owned by Google which is under US jurisdiction. Substituting the play store is much more easier. Actually it is already done by ZTE in China, and any venders selling phones in China including Samsung.

The only impact of this ban is ZTE's oversea, mostly US, market.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

No sale outside of China

 

[Jura The idiot]

now noticed the tweet

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China will start construction of a 17km-long bridge over the Pearl River Delta in late April. The bridge is part of a transportation project that will slash travel time between the southern cities of Shenzhen and Zhongshan from 2 hours to 30 minutes.

 

[taxiya]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

No sale outside of China

That has nothing to do with the "ban". It is a move by google to request all Android ROM developer to apply for certification. It is a request to ALL including OEMs like Samsung. The application is simple. A private ROM developer can apply and get certified too with ease, that is like you and me. The certification is similar to Windows certification, nothing more.

I know this because I am using a customized ROM from XDA, whose developer has to apply for it recently.

It may be possible that Google will eventually refuse to certify phones from a specific vendor (ZTE)that will block the devices to log in google service (gmail etc.). But it is not doing it now. We will have to wait and see. But do remember, that is a huge move by Google to get into such a fight, its credibility as a OS "supplier" (not truly in the sense like windows or ios) will be in danger. You know that Samsung and many other Android phone vendors have their own OS programs ongoing for years already.

 

[vincent]

That has nothing to do with the "ban". It is a move by google to request all Android ROM developer to apply for certification. It is a request to ALL including OEMs like Samsung. The application is simple. A private ROM developer can apply and get certified too with ease, that is like you and me. The certification is similar to Windows certification, nothing more.

No certification

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Android is free and open source and will probably remain free for ZTE to use without Google's involvement. Reuters' source is probably referring to the Google apps, which aren't sold to device makers but are carefully licensed to them in exchange for

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

. The Google apps package includes popular services like Gmail and Google Maps, and it also unlocks the Play Store, Google Play Services, and the entire Android app ecosystem.

 

[Jura The idiot]

now I read
Xinhua Headlines: Expanding imports, the Chinese way to balanced global trade
Xinhua| 2018-04-20 13:49:06

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Imports are under the spotlight this year at China's largest trade fair, the Canton Fair, as the country seeks to open its domestic market wider, despite growing protectionism across the world.

At the biannual fair, which just ended its first phase Thursday in south China's Guangzhou, a team of event organizers was busy handing out flyers to passersby, informing them of the opportunity to sign up for another international trade event, the China International Import Expo (CIIE).

To be held in Shanghai this November, the CIIE is part of China's broader efforts to expand imports and address the global trade imbalance.

At a time when protectionism and anti-globalization sentiment is rising elsewhere, China is opening its door wider to the world, with plans including importing goods worth 8 trillion U.S. dollars in the next five years.

"China does not seek trade surplus and is continuously expanding imports," said Bai Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "This will bring new opportunities for other countries to share the market dividends of China."

The Canton Fair set up a special import exhibition area and attracted more than 600 international firms interested in getting a larger slice of the 8-trillion-dollar pie.

TOO BIG TO IGNORE

Forty years ago, Steven Yu first came to the Canton Fair at the age of 8 with his father, who was a buyer looking to source products from Chinese suppliers.

Yu, now president of Orient Fan Company, a licensed seller of heavy machinery giant Caterpillar Inc., is back at the fair as an exhibitor.

"Instead of buying, now we are selling," Yu said.

The company is looking for a distributor to sell Caterpillar fans and heaters in the Chinese market, where Yu sees increasing demand as people's incomes rise.

"The Chinese economy is quite stable. It's actually very good compared with other countries. For Chinese consumers, buying import products is not an issue," Yu said.

The company will apply for more exhibition space to showcase more Caterpillar products in the next session of Canton Fair. It also applied to attend the CIIE in Shanghai, according to Yu.

While some certain countries have used allegations of improper intellectual property practices as an excuse to block imports into China, for many multinationals, the Chinese market is just too big to ignore.

Nearly half of Caterpillar's sales increase last year came from construction industries, and China was a "very important" contributor, Caterpillar Inc. CEO Jim Umpleby said in a previous interview with Xinhua.

CONSUMPTION UPGRADE

Unlike many multinationals, which eye the Chinese market for its size, small and medium-sized companies around the world are trying to cash in on a new trend in the Chinese market: upgraded consumption.

At the import exhibition zone at Canton Fair, Chinese buyers gathered around booths displaying foreign-made consumer goods such as

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

ese beauty devices.

Yue Rui, a sales representative of Aquapick Co, Ltd., an oral health device maker based in the Republic of Korea, said the Chinese market has a lot of potential for growth, as more Chinese are becoming more health-conscious.

More than 30 percent of the company's sales came from China last year, with online sales a big boost to business, Yue said.

A study by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China showed that among surveyed member companies with established operations in China, half of them earned more than 30 percent of their global revenue in China in 2017.

More than half of the surveyed companies are firms with fewer than 250 employees, according to the study.

For these smaller firms, competition with Chinese players is inevitable, but Yue said innovation is key to winning market share.

"We have to improve our product quality while staying competitive in terms of price," Yue said.

As China transitions into a consumption-driven economy, demand for high-quality products and design is on the rise, bringing opportunities to innovative foreign brands.

Latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's retail sales growth accelerated to a higher-than-expected 10.1 percent in March from 9.7 percent in January-February.

Final consumption contributed 77.8 percent of the economic growth in the first quarter, up from 58.8 percent last year.

SHARED FUTURE

China's initiative to expand imports will bring shared benefits to many developing countries, analysts said.

Xiao Yaofei, a professor with the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said China is distinct from many countries as it is both the world's biggest consumer and producer in many fields.

That means China does have demand not only for finished goods, but also for potentially parts and components in the industrial supply chain.

As labor costs rise and the industrial structure improves, many Chinese companies could develop a global supply system, increasing demand for imports from some developing countries, Xiao said.

Kundan Talwar, director of Rexnord Electronics and Controls Ltd., an Indian manufacturer of fans and motors, said though his company currently doesn't have many orders directly from Chinese companies, his business can get help from China as many Chinese firms are pushed to import some components from India over labor cost concerns.

"I don't see this in the near future, but it could happen," Talwar said.

Many buyers from developing countries have seen the CIIE due in Shanghai as an opportunity for their products to become known in the Chinese market.

Rodrigo Aballay, director of Chile's Asian Institute of Culture and Business, came to the Canton Fair with more than 100 Chilean companies.

Aballay said he expected a delegation of Chilean companies to attend the CIIE in November, bringing products, services, and tourism.

"The Shanghai import expo brings us balance. For many years we have bought here. Now we can offer," Aballay said.

 

[taxiya]

No certification

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Android is free and open source and will probably remain free for ZTE to use without Google's involvement. Reuters' source is probably referring to the Google apps, which aren't sold to device makers but are carefully licensed to them in exchange for

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

. The Google apps package includes popular services like Gmail and Google Maps, and it also unlocks the Play Store, Google Play Services, and the entire Android app ecosystem.

It has to be "the google related services" which Google can and has to do if there is an order from US government. We will have to wait and see.